Shadows
by ZOMGiwantspieNAAOOWW
Summary: Everything started with a haunting text on a broken cell phone.  Warnings: sucky summary, potential for increased rating, Koukou to an unknown extent, but probably not twincest, character death occuring before the storyline.
1. Prologue

_There's a hate inside of me like some kind of master_

_I tried to save you but I can't find the answers_

_I'm holding on to you_

_I'll never let go_

_I need you with me as I ENTER THE SHADOWS…_

* * *

_Windswept plain. Forest closing in on all sides, yet no matter how far he walked, ran, crawled, the trees never came any closer. He knew this, just as he knew without needing to look down to know that his human body had been replaced by snowy fur and snowshoe-like paws. The same events, every time. He knew it was all pointless, so why bother trying? There was no way to avoid the voices…_

_Nightmares, he was used to. Nightmares, he'd known his whole life._

_This was different. This…whatever it was, had started two or so years back, and it was like no other nightmare he'd had. His nightmares made sense, in context with his life. This was out of nowhere, and no matter how many times it happened, always left him shaken to the core when he woke up._

_He hoped – begged – for the torment to begin, to hurry up, so that he might somehow salvage a bit of sleep on this night. _

_And then, finally, the whispers began, embedded in the wind._

_Children's voices, incoherent, desperate, haunting. Even in the dream, he dared not open his eyes – the last time he had, the agonized face he'd seen had kept him sleepless for days. _

"_Why?"_

_Involuntarily, his eyes snapped open. _

"_Why didn't you come?"_

_This wasn't right. They weren't supposed to be capable of speech._

"_Why weren't you here?"_

_Yet, there they were, four voices, begging, desperate. Fur fluffed out on end, he backed onto his paws, casting about, fearful. And slowly, in front of him, materialized a small child. Black and white, see-through, hollow-eyed. His own chant was taken up by the others, as a new, hauntingly familiar sound resonated._

"_Where were you?"_

"_Where were you?"_

"_Warrior."_

_He jerked around to face the new voice – _

And into wakefulness with a painful thud.

He'd managed to thrash himself out of bed, and onto the floor. Yet, rather than crawling back under the covers, to wonder at the mysterious dream, he shakily rose to his feet. That sound, in the background of the dream…

On the bedside table sat a small, black cell phone.

He knew it. Two years ago, on the anniversary, that sound had been there, in the background of the call… The one from the woman…But he'd chosen, despite his every instinct, not to do as she said. He couldn't overcome his fear of trusting. He'd just bought the flowers and gone home.

He picked up the phone, trembling heavily.

Was _that_ what all of this was about? Was he having dreams because he hadn't tried to get on the train?

A single text message was in his cell phone's inbox.

"_WHERE WERE YOU"_

* * *

…Well, that was fun. This should be an interesting plot bunny, ne? Please review. Constructive criticism will be used for improvement. Flames will be used for weenie roasting.


	2. Chapter 1

_Do you think he got the message?_

_He had to. He's our last hope._

Autodrive. Kill the alarm clock (not that it had gone off yet, but better to turn it off beforehand than to deal with it later), roll out of bed, stumble into the bathroom.

That phone hadn't worked for over a year and a half.

Turn on the water, undress while it heated up, remember at the last minute to turn on the blower so that the steam didn't peel the paint off the walls.

Why now? Why, after eighteen months of uselessness, decide to send one cryptic message? His phone was supposed to have caller ID, but the text sender had been as anonymous as…As the woman, Kouji realized with a jolt.

Test the water, get in the shower, try to wake up, however restless the night had been.

There had to be a connection.

What had he missed, exactly? Who had needed him?

Why _wasn't _he there? It wouldn't have been hard, the flower shop was close enough to the subway station. He could have raced over, bought a ticket, and maybe…maybe he wouldn't feel the emptiness that had plagued him ever since. That had to be it, the thing inside of him that felt like it was missing…Had he…run away from destiny? Someone had _needed_ him.

"And I was too much of a coward to show up," he whispered, in a voice hardly louder than a thought.

He shut off the water. Got dressed, hit the lights, stumbled blindly out of the bathroom – his night vision was terrible, but he didn't want to wake up his father or stepmother – wandered back into his bedroom.

The clock read 3:37. Dreams always had to have awful timing like that. He groaned softly, shook his head, and, on an odd hunch, grabbed the cell phone off the bedside table.

Feeling his way along the wall, he made it down the stairs and into the household living room. Flopping down on the couch, he fumbled for the remote, and began flicking through channels. Pointless commercials, adult shows, ridiculous channels…Paid programming galore, advertising everything from shoes to acne cream to some mediocre new 'wonder invention,' which was really just a rip off of _another_ rip-off from a few decades ago, Kouji was sure. Why was it that all commercials and 'paid programming' seemed to have the _exact same _announcers? A few police dramas were on, and an episode of his favorite show was playing, but early morning cop shows tended to be depressing, and the one good show on was rerunning an episode that Kouji had seen what felt like five hundred separate times.

He stopped short at a cold-case reality show. Normally reality shows of any kind made the teen immediately flick the channel, but this one shook him to the core. On the screen were the faces of four children, as well as words flashing by , saying that the victims had been missing for a little over two years, as well as phone numbers, details on their disappearance. What made Kouji's blood run cold was the youngest – one Himi Tomoki, aged nine when he vanished. He was, without a doubt, a slightly younger version of the boy from that dream. Shaking violently now, Kouji slowly looked down at the cell phone clutched, white-knuckled, in his left hand. The power light was on. Still on screen when he flipped it open was the text.

"_WHERE WERE YOU"_

His hands were quivering so intensely, he barely managed to hit 'reply'.

After thinking for what seemed an eternity, he typed: _"r u himi tomoki?"_

Didn't want to torment the slaves. Didn't feel like crushing rebellion. Couldn't find the right mood to go scan more of the damn world, couldn't do this, didn't want to do that…What was the word for this? Boredom? No, that wasn't it at all. Taking over the world did seem too easy, especially after those worthless little children who'd thought to play hero had been put down, but boredom wasn't what plagued him. Anyways, if he was bored, he would have been able to distract himself with plans to beat down the rebellions that had been springing up ever since the limited success of Ophanimon's last desperate attempt to free the world. Honestly, if it weren't for those digimon who had finally decided to go and get backbones, the world would have belonged to Cherubimon-sama by now. Frustrated at not knowing his own emotions, the teen strolled down the hallways of the evil Warriors' base. He decided at last that he might as well see what his 'comrades' were doing.

He casually glanced along the foreboding stone hallways, still throwing around ideas of what he was feeling. Homesick? No, never. He was better off here, and she would be better off without him there, anyway. This world suited him. Lonely? Impossible. He knew loneliness, and it never came with either frustration or numbness…

A slave Gabumon gasped and bowed its head as he stalked past. He paid it no mind, he still had no mind to take out his frustration on the hapless creatures. "Just get back to work," he growled at it.

_In a good mood today, ne, Kouichi?_

The boy stopped, refusing to turn around. He knew what he would see, just as he knew that the Gabumon would see nothing. Willing himself onward, his pace quickened slightly as he rushed to find an unoccupied room. Ducking into a secluded corridor, he found the familiar crack in the wall. It was a tight squeeze, but the space behind it had enough room for five others his size. Standing in the middle of the darkness, he took a deep breath, and turned around.

There he was again, leaning against the wall, dressed just as he had been the day he had breathed his last. Minus the blood, of course. Kouichi had yet to see a ghost covered in blood – but then, that would be too easy. If the specter _looked_ dead, then he wouldn't feel so unnervingly alive. Sure, he was transparent and almost colorless, but he was _there._

"Don't you have someone else to haunt, _Himi?"_

The ghost smiled, and pulled his ridiculous orange hat down over his eyes.

_The last Warrior will come._

Kouichi struggled to prevent his voice from quivering, "I-impossible. If he wanted to come here, he would have had to come when the first call went out."

_The last Warrior WILL come, Kimura Kouichi. He will save you, just as you will save him._

"What would such a pure creature as the last Warrior of Legend want with a corrupted beast such as me?" he snarled, cynicism flying undisguised from his voice. "Even in death, you're a little fool, Himi. Besides, what makes you think I would have any interest in him?"

_That doesn't matter, Kouichi._

"Don't use my name, damn you."

_It will happen._

Kouichi snorted, trying desperately to reason with himself as much as he was with the spirit. "How would you know? You were an eleven year old when you died, and now you're just a ghost. You couldn't do anything then, and you have no power now."

_It's not merely through me that this will come to pass, Kouichi._

Kouichi refused to meet the spirit's gaze.

_It was always meant to happen. Regardless of the timing, you to need each other. That will not change, no matter how much you fight it._

"Oh yeah, well – "

The ghost was gone.

* * *

No comment. Please review! Constructive criticism will be used for improvement, flames will be used for weenie roasting.


	3. Chapter 2

I forgot my disclaimer, so here: **IF IT AIN'T MINE, IT AIN'T MINE.**

APPARENTLY, fanfic doesn't like my triple-star page break, because it NEVER goes through. I apologize, I did not think that it would have a problem with three asterisks. I'll come up with a better page break that actually shows up, ne?

And, just so we're clear, the conversations going on in the classroom are not necessarily accurate. Think of it as what they might as well be saying. I swear, the conversations kids have in class while the teacher is talking are absolutely ridiculous. And for the boys, this is the _censored_ version. You would not believe how many times I hear a guy drop the f-bomb at my school for absolutely no reason.

* * *

"And so, the sum of pi plus x has to equal…"

"Like, O-M-G, like, W-T-F-H? "

"Like, omigod, I-K-R? He is, like, T-T-L-Y H-A-W-T-T!"

_Shut up,_ Kouji mentally begged. In an attempt to stem some of the noise in the classroom, he angled himself slightly differently in his chair.

"Psst, dude, Akira! Check out my bruise, I swear it's shaped just like Chuck Norris' head, bro!"

"Like hell it is. Let me see."

"Hell _yeah,_ it does!"

"Holy _shit,_ that's – damn!"

"I think it's a sign, or something, bro. I'm gonna be the Chuck Norris of soccer, man!"

"Boys, please, quiet down."

_Yes, for the love of all things merciful, would everyone be quiet so I can hear myself think, this ONE time, _Kouji thought.

"Like, L-O-L, they T-T-L-Y got P-W-N-D."

Kouji groaned and thumped his head against his desk.

"Minamoto-kun, is there something you would like to share with the class?" A thousand savage retorts died in his throat, and he just shook his head, as the teacher droned on. He couldn't think about school, not after the events of the morning. He just wanted to process everything that had happened, but the universe seemed to be his enemy. Between sniveling girls and obnoxious jocks in every classroom, just drowning out the teachers wasn't enough.

"Okay, class, please solve this on your own. That means NO partners. I'm talking to you, Hiro-kun." The class collectively groaned, bringing Kouji down from his thoughts. _Better try to take my mind off of it,_ he thought, deciding to focus on the math problem. One of the few perks of being friendless was lots of free time for schoolwork, which meant that school was generally easy for him. He was about halfway through scratching down the problem into his notebook, when a voice seemed to whisper straight into his mind.

_Warrior…_

The teen froze, and then forced himself to shake it off, crediting the sound to his imagination. He was nervous, that was all, and sleep deprived, which was combining with his earlier dream and the cold case show from that morning to make him think he was hearing the disembodied voice of a boy who he had neither seen nor heard before in his entire life. Yeah, that was all. He took a deep breath, and pressed his pencil back on the paper.

Only to find that it was already full. Scrawled all over, in every direction, were several painfully familiar sentences.

_WHERE WERE YOU WHY DIDN'T YOU COME WARRIOR WHY WEREN'T YOU HERE…_

The teen's eyes were held wide, unblinking. It wasn't horror that gripped him, inexplicably. He just couldn't move. He was helpless, yet unalarmed, just…still, as a cool, quiet dread crept in from the bones outward. He had looked away from his paper for but an instant, so there was no way anyone could have written that there, even on the off chance that they had managed to slip by him. He was vaguely aware that his body was undergoing the classic fight-or-flight reflex, but that was totally isolated from this. Everything was slowed down to Kouji. The thoughts, as terrifying as they should have been, drifted lazily by like clouds on the horizon just before a hurricane. One of the annoying girls two rows over raised her hand, but he still paid no attention. Colors started to blur together, sounds faded out –

"Minamoto-kun." He nearly jumped out of his skin, then. Suddenly aware, he noticed that the fear reaction had apparently taken a greater hold on him than he had known, and that his teacher was standing next to him, with one hand on the teen's shoulder. "Minamoto-kun, do you need to go down to the nurse's office?" Casting about his gaze, he realized that most of the other students were staring at him. Not surprising, considering that he was shivering, again.

"I-I'm fine, Sensei," he muttered, blushing and sinking down into his seat. He hated having any number of people staring at him; it always made him feel awkward. Looking down at his quivering hands, he noticed subconsciously that he was even more pale than usual, but the fact scarcely sunk in. The combination of the continued presence of the words scrawled across his paper and his sensei's apparent obliviousness to them outweighed his reason. Forcing himself to look away, however, it sunk in that he had attracted the attention of the entire class by now, who were silent for once. The girls who had raised her hand a moment ago, in particular, was looking very worried; she must have told the teacher that something was wrong.

"Are you? You're shaking like a leaf and the paper has more color than you do," the teacher said softly. It definitely wasn't a real question this time. Kouji mumbled that he would go down, if only to get everyone to leave him alone. The teacher nodded as Kouji gathered up his things, vaguely aware that the girl – oh, what was her name, Chiaki-san – rushed out of her chair to help him. She offered a hand to help him up, but he refused it. He left his supplies in his bag, slung over his chair (he'd really only put the notebook away to be sure that no one saw the writing, just in case), expecting to be back after getting confirmation that he was fine. About five minutes later, Chiaki-san had to go and get his shoulder bag. Apparently, he _was_ sick, if the far-from-borderline reading off the nurse's thermometer had anything to say about it. _Perfect._

Chiaki came back in, looking rushed. What was with her? She had never shown much interest in him before. That was probably the one thing about her that wasn't annoying, she didn't act like some anime fangirl. She handed him the bag, and he muttered his thanks, barely paying attention. He didn't want to go home. He really did _not_ want to go him. His father would tell him to sleep, and with the dream still looming fresh, sleeping far from headed his to do list.

"Um, hello? Minamoto-kun?" Kouji started, suddenly aware that she'd been talking to him.

"Hn, what?" he mumbled; the world was starting to fade out again.

"Um, I was just wondering…do you, by any chance, have a brother?"

"Wh-wha…n-no, I'm an only child. Why?" Her only reply was too quiet for Kouji to make out, and trailed off at the end, anyhow, as she turned her head away. The nurse walked back in and alerted Kouji that his father had arrived, and Kouji got up, and left, thinking, his mind fogged. _Why would someone ask if I have a brother…?_

_Another_ rebellion. Oh, joy. Those humans – the three who were left, anyway – just wouldn't give it up and let the world be consumed, no matter what was done to them. And if that wasn't bad enough, somehow, they always managed to work up some spirit in any digimon they could find, and cause trouble for him that he just didn't need. Maybe he should just maim them, since they didn't seem capable of dying –

_Oh, yeah, after that worked so well when Gigasmon tried it. _Kouichi shuddered at the memory, the fight playing out again to his senses, even as his min rejected it. A dragon's agonized roar resounded, synchronized with a terrified shriek, and worst of the lot, the heavy silence as the latter sound stopped short. Kouichi shook both away, furious with himself. That had been before he'd joined Cherubimon-sama. It meant _nothing_ now.

He needed to focus on the task at hand.

* * *

By the way, folks, Chiaki is not an OC, nor is she from a crossover. It will make my day, no joke, if _anyone_ knows who she is that reads this.

Wow, this is already differing from my original intentions. That was quick.

In any case, please review. Constructive criticism will be used for improvements. Flames will be used for weenie roasting.


	4. Chapter 3

**IF IT AIN'T MINE, IT AIN'T MINE.**

* * *

'Sick as a dog' was an understatement. In fact, the dog was doing fine. Kouji, on the other hand, having survived the car ride home from school, found himself in a potential vicious circle: sleep (check), have nightmare (check), suffer paranoia (check), pass out from _lack _of sleep (imminent), have nightmare _again_, etcetera. And now sleep deprivation was going to his head. He felt dizzy and weak, unsure as he was whether that was from illness or exhaustion, and had an odd feeling that something was happening.

Eri, sitting faithfully on the floor by his master, whined softly and rested his big, brown head on Kouji's chest. Kouji wearily opened one eye. The dog tilted his head and heaved a big breath in a distinctly dog-like fashion, his soft brown eyes worrying. Kouji ruffled the fur between his ears and whispered "You're a good boy, Eri," which seemed to be enough to comfort the German shepherd. Eri stretched out on the floor and abruptly fell asleep.

..o.o..

He woke up a few minutes later to the sounds of his master's thrashing as the boy was gripped by another nightmare.

_"What do you want?" He begged, his tail sliding between his legs, ears pulled flat. The wind howled, the faces spiraled across his vision. Nothing changed._

_"Please! I-I just - I don't understand!"_

You were supposed to come with us, Warrior, _a small voice said. The little boy, Himi Tomoki, materialized out of the gale. Kouji took a step back. _

_"Well, I didn't, and I can't change that, so what do you want me to do about it?"_

You will come, Warrior.

_"Where? I don't know where the hell you are!"_

_"Tomoki, take it easy on him. He's confused, doesn't know what's going on." Another voice, this one only slightly familiar - the final voice from the last dream. Calm, comforting, knowing. Kouji started to turn around, but was stopped by the newcomer's voice. "No, don't," it warned, "if you look at me, the dream will end. We're still too distant to make contact so directly. And I need to talk to you, Warrior."_

_"Why do you guys keep doing that?" Kouji demanded, trying to keep his legs from shaking, "I'm not a warrior, I'm not even a high schooler yet!"_

_"Well, you're wrong about that. It's hard to explain right now, but it is why Tomoki keeps haunting you. All of us are Warriors, just as you were always meant to be."_

_"'All of us'? Who is 'us'?"_

_"There should have been ten," responded the faceless voice, "but forces intervened, reducing it to six. And without you, there were only five…And now, that five is down to either four or three, depending on how you want to look at my situation. They - Tomoki and the three other children - want you to go be what you were always meant to become, Warrior."_

_Kouji looked down at his white paws, absorbing the story slowly. "And you?" he asked, softly, "What do you want from me?"_

_The voice paused. Tomoki's grayscale eyes fixated intensely on a point behind Kouji, apparently watching the speaker. _

_"Actually, I was hoping that you could save me." Kouji looked up with a start. "The other three failed, and Tomoki can't help me, other than connecting the two of us. I'm trapped on a twisted road, Warrior, and you're the only Light I have left to lead me out." Unable to resist temptation any longer, Kouji whipped around. For the smallest of moments, as the dream concluded, a black lion looked back._

..o.o..

There were small pleasures to be had in being the villain. For example, there was the utter satisfaction as the rebellious, prideful expressions of his foe faded to pure, bleak terror as they realized what had just strode onto the battlefield. The screams that ensued as some tried desperately to flee. Forget Tomoki. Forget the old days.

Kouichi smirked, now anticipating the moment he joined the battle. He took in his bearings slowly, tracking down first the humans he once had called comrades. Fairymon, being the only of the three still possessing her spirit, drifted above the battlefield, darting down occasionally to attack one or two of Cherubimon-sama's pawns. Junpei brandished a large tree branch, fighting off several Child-level digimon, and Takuya sat astride a horselike digimon, a staff held in his hand. They were winning the battle for now, but then, no one knew yet that he was here. Kouichi's smile deepened as he succumbed to the dark power he wielded, changing swiftly into Duskmon. He walked onto the battlefield and, not hesitating, cut down the first creature to step in his path. And the chaos began, in all its glory.

Tomoki had no sway over him here. And if the last Warrior did dare show his face, he would die just as easily as any other being in this world.

* * *

SORRY! My motherboard got fried, and I lost my flow by the time I got a new computer (thankfully, we saved my hard drive), so I haven't been able to update until now, and then I give you all a terribly short chapter. I will have something substantial up, I promise!

Please review! Questions to be addressed, constructive criticism to be heeded, flames to be used for weenie roasting.


	5. Chapter 4

OH SHIZ AN UPDATE WUT

Norly. Lol. Been a while, huh? *hides* Please don't hurt me! My muse took a really long lunch break! But I hereby swear that, as penance, this chapter of Shadows shall be LONG. Yush. It will be lengthy, or else let me be trampled by stampeding, furious fans. ...Assuming I have enough fans for a stampede.

Also, Patamon ends things with -desu because I don't remember if he says anything, and I needed something cute for him to say. If anyone knows what his little phrase is (if he has one) then please do tell me!

**IF IT AIN'T MINE IT AIN'T MINE.**

**

* * *

**

_Tomoki again. Kouji thought briefly for a moment, startled to be in a dream again, then remembered - he'd woken up, after seeing the lion, and had to comfort his distraught dog. He'd then gotten up to get a glass of water, and climbed back onto the couch to think for a while - he must have drifted off._

_Tomoki stared at him, almost cuttingly. Kouji shifted his feet - paws. He was a wolf again; for some reason, it seemed, that was the character of these odd visions. The lion...He was in trouble somewhere. And now, Kouji couldn't shake the feeling that, somehow, he really was the only one who could do anything about it._

Well?_ came the small boy's echoey voice, making Kouji jump._

_"Well, what?" he asked cautiously, flicking his ear back, expecting the second, somehow more comforting voice._

He's not here, Warrior_, warned the boy._

_"Why not?"_

He's busy_. Kouji flinched._ I need a decision, Warrior. Are you coming, of your own free will? Or will you remain where you are? The way he intoned the last words, he made it sound as though it would be a terrible choice to stay.

_Kouji gulped. Guilt washed through him, for reasons he couldn't explain. He let out a breath._

_"I...Alright. I'm coming." The boy smiled slightly, satisfied. "But...But where? And how the hell am I supposed to get to wherever? I still don't even know what it is I'm supposed to do anyways, I mean - "_

_'_Where' is not easy to believe without seeing it for yourself. 'What' is something not even I could tell you; that is your path. You will know what to do when the time comes, I'm sure. As for 'how', you will have a guide_, Tomoki raced, nonchalant._

_"A guide?"_

He should be arriving at your door soon. I suggest you get packed; it would not be a bad idea to prepare for anything, Warrior.

_"Wait, I don't underst-"_

Wake up, you haven't got much time.

_The dream cut off._

..o.o..

Kouji was under the covers, in the couch. The dog was curled up, sound asleep, so apparently, Kouji hadn't been thrashing around enough to disturb him. Cold dread coiled in Kouji's stomach as he remembered the details of his dream, but he forced himself to ignore, it, carefully creeping out from underneath the covers. He thought slowly, carefully; somehow, his headache had somewhat dissipated, and he didn't feel nearly as sick as he had. His father was out working still, and his stepmother would be out with friends for the rest of the day. He'd have to leave a note, so they knew he'd gone out. Eri pricked his ears as Kouji step on a particularly noisy stair, but otherwise, the dog barely moved. He watched his master, a look of knowing in his brown eyes, as Kouji hurried up to his room.

Changing quickly, the teen pulled out an old backpack from the rear of his closet. It was from a much younger time in his life, but it still fit, was in good condition, and Kouji knew it to be made of fairly tough material. He picked out an extra set of clothing, not knowing how long he would be...wherever, and, after some rummaging, found a few other items falling distinctly in the prepare-for-anything category - a pocket knife he'd gotten from some (step) uncle (who had apparently been trying to get himself and his sister on Kouji's good side), a small lighter from the kitchen, a winter jacket, and the first aid kit from his father's bathroom - he had no idea why his father kept it there, but there it stayed. In any case, Kouji also - almost as an afterthought - began raiding the kitchen for some nonperishable snacks, just in case food was hard to find, when Eri snuck up behind and nosed into his leg, whining. Normally, that meant that the dog needed to go to the backyard, but instead of the back door, as Kouji expected, Eri beelined for the front door, whining softly. The guide Tomoki had mentioned. He had to be here.

Shivering slightly, Kouji scrambled for a scrap of paper, scribbled out a spur-of-the-moment note to his parents, and swung the bag over his shoulder. He hesitated a moment before grabbing the doorknob, and at last, with a precautionary 'stay' to Eri, opened the door.

At first, no one seemed to be there. Kouji opened the door wider, casting about, confused, until he felt a tug on the leg of his jeans. He looked down, and his eyes widened. It was a...a...

A hamster, he decided, was the closest thing he could compare it to. A really big, bright orange hamster with no nose, and a pink waistband. And wings. Well, that did it, he was officially hallucinating. Time to go back to sleep for a few years. But the little mutant hamster smiled, delight filling its adorable eyes when it saw him.

"Hiya!" It piped, still beaming.

"Are...are you..."

"Yup," grinned the hamster, "I'm the one who's supposed to show you the way, Onii-chan!"

Erm...I was going to say "real," Kouji thought, but decided to keep that to himself rather than spoiling the sweet little creature's mood. He acted like a little child (the innocent, affectionate kind, that is; not to be confused with the sort that will start screaming bloody murder if they don't get two scoops of ice cream), and Kouji wasn't feeling particularly mean that day.

"Well, I'm-" He started off, but the creature apparently had its own plans. It abruptly darted up - so those wings were real, then - and scrambled unceremoniously up the bottom of his shirt, poking its head out through his collar. Kouji blinked, startled.

"Come on, Onii-chan, it's this way, this way-desu!" it piped, pointing eagerly, bouncing a little.

"Ah - uh - okay, um, going," Kouji stuttered, still a bit unsure. "But," he paused, thinking a bit more clearly, "if anyone sees you, there'll be trouble, so you better stay hidden," he softly mentioned. The creature nodded, and held still as Kouji zipped up his jacket. Kouji walked quickly, pulling his jacket up high to make sure that no one saw the top of the mutant hamster's head as it quietly whispered directions.

This was odd. He knew this road so far. Not some far off place, or some back alley like he'd expected. This was...

About fifteen minutes later, his suspicions were confirmed. It was Shibuya train station. Why here, to one of the busiest places in Tokyo? Right when he really didn't need to be seen...

The hamster wriggled a bit. "Onii-chan, you have to go in. Go in and take the up-down."

"The what?"

"The up-down. The magic box that takes you up and down, up and down, up and up and down and down!" it chanted, singing a little, as it started to bounce excitedly once again. Kouji panicked a bit, his eyes tearing about. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice the dancing movement.

"Sh, sh, okay, but you need to keep still..."

"Oh, oops!" said the hamster, and went quiet.

Magic box, huh...It probably means the elevator, reasoned Kouji, striding towards where he knew the "up-down" would be. As he approached, about to join a man with a briefcase, he felt a tug from the inside of his shirt. He stopped and looked down. "You have to go in while nobody else is there-desu," the creature whispered urgently. Kouji blinked in understanding, and motioned to the man to go ahead. When the next elevator arrived, he stepped on.

The mutant hamster popped out of his shirt the moment the door had opened, and settled itself on top of his head instead. Normally, Kouji would never have let himself get so attached to anyone or anything so quickly, but he child was impossible to dislike. Besides, it wasn't human, that was for sure. And so far in his life, only humans had ever hurt him. "So now what?" Kouji asked, mildly. The elevator jolted, and Kouji, still a bit weak from sickness, couldn't stay on his feet. The hamster was nearly launched off altogether.

"That," it smiled, unfazed by its near meeting with the floor. "We're going home now-desu!"

"Home?" Kouji nervously questioned, almost not wanting to know where such strange creatures as his new companion came from. Wherever they were going was supposed to be dangerous, after all.

"Yup! Back to the Digital World-desu!"

"Digital...World?"

The elevator finished its ridiculously rapid descent at last, and the doors gently dinged open. Kouji gingerly rose to his feet, and then looked out, warily, the little hamster still perched on his head. There were several tunnels arranged in a circle around the elevator shaft, but only one train seemed to be in. He looked at it, confused.

"Onii-chan, you need to go and get on!"

Slowly, almost as if caught in a dream, Kouji paced forward and boarded the train. Somehow, it felt right. As though everything had always been meant to go that way. He stood on the little balcony at the back of the train.

"Okey-dokey, Ojii-sama! You can go now-desu! He's on board!" The hamster yelled happily. Kouji glanced up at it, and to his surprise, the train immediately roared into life. He stayed on the balcony, watching the world he'd always known get further and further away, as everything vanished into red tunnels.

When the circle of light representing home had disappeared at last, he walked into the train, just as it suddenly knocked him off his feet by speeding up. And the roaring of the horn changed...into a voice.

"What the..."

The little orange creature - which had finally been knocked off of his head by the jolt of the train, sat up and rubbed its eyes. Remembering something, it began hovering nearby Kouji.

"Oh, oh, before I forget, my name's Patamon, ne?"

Kouji, distracted, responded, "Ah, and my name is - "

"Onii-chan is Onii-chan-desu!"

Kouji's cell phone - the older one - suddenly began to violently vibrate inside his pocket. Startled, he pulled it out, and watched, dumbfounded, as it changed. And yet, for the life of him, he could not explain why this all didn't have him completely shocked. Everything so far had felt...right.

Patamon looked at the new device in Kouji's hand, and grinned even wider. "We're here-desu!"

..o.o..

Kouichi strode angrily away from the battle field. Those incompetent fools had let the human brats get away again. Typical. That was all he needed right then, all he damn -

_Pulse._

Something was wrong. Something was changing.

_Pulse._

He felt shivers run up his spine. His breath caught in his throat, and a single bead of sweat formed near his temple. There was Himi, leaned up against a tree. Someone was coming...

_I told you he would come, Tomoki smirked._

_Pulse._

Kouichi, for once, really paid no mind. He was sensing something, something that terrified him to no end.

_Pulse._

He had a bad feeling that there was a reason why the last Warrior was such bad news to him specifically.

_Pulse._

Someone was coming who really could stop him. Someone who could be just as unbending as himself - on the opposite side.

_Pulse._

Someone with the power to render him utterly powerless and helpless. And Kouichi wasn't ready to lose his newfound power.

_PULSE._

Not without a fight.

**_PULSE._**

* * *

Ahha. I did it. I can go and pass out - I mean, sleep now. Goooooood. Night. (Yeah, I'm exhausted, so sorry for rambling at the end there)

Please review! Questions to be addressed, constructive criticism to be heeded, flames to be used for weenie roasting.


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